Friday, February 15, 2013

31 Days of Change

Welcome to the 30 Days of ChangeBlog Carnival hosted by Living Peacefully With Children and Hybrid Rasta Mama. In celebration of the New Year and forgotten resolutions , we're sharing the results of our 30 day commitment to addressing one habit the we either needed to eliminate, reframe, or include in our life. We hope you are inspired and energized to make one positive change in your own habits.

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One month of change. That sounds promising. And big. My 31 days might seem a little selfish, then. They didn't make me a better person or mother, less cluttered or healthier. Not in a direct way, at least.

Last year I started this blog because I got too many ideas, got too excited about them, and then for one reason or another, would abandon them too quickly. Or else I wouldn't even start the projects. I guess I could blame it on fear of failure, perfectionism, all the old culprits, but in the end, does it really matter?
My idea was that I could become accountable by announcing to the world (or at least the three people who read my blog) what I was doing and post pictures of my progress (inviting shame and ridicule when there was no progress...)

I am much better at brainstorming and daydreaming than I am at execution.

At some point, the medium became the message. I've started to blog less about specific projects and have begun to enjoy the actual blogging process itself. But still, a lifetime of procrastination is hard to undo and I was inconsistent with my blog.

So in January, I joined the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I'd heard about it months before and finally joined in. The idea was to blog 31 times in January. It might not sound difficult, and obviously it's a very simple concept, but for someone like me, it was just what I needed. And I finished it! I posted 33 times in January.

I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. Since forever. And I hate when people say things like "don't lose your identity" to your kids and family. At the same time, I really enjoyed having my blog time. As a new mom in a new country, blogging has allowed me to connect with other mamas and not feel so isolated. As a wannabe writer and creative soul, I've been exposed to so many cool new people and their work that is inspiring and motivating. And of course, the challenge put the fire under me to actually complete something from start to finish. I find that blogging is a happy solution for me, something that allows me to get out what I need to, but still be at home and focus on my family (although admittedly, during the 31 days it was hard to keep up with everything). I get to enjoy my kids, husband and home in a new way by photographing them, writing about them and sharing with others, all the while honing the same skills!

There were a couple of times I thought I didn't have anything to write about. But I wrote anyway, and as it turns out, I still have several ideas that I didn't get to post about and that are still waiting in my idea bank. And I even look forward to participating in another challenge. I've had so many big life changes in the past couple of months that it was nice to have something a little more intimate, a little more concrete to work on.

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Please take a moment to visit the blogs of our other 30 Days of Change Blog Carnival participants. The links in this list will be updated by the end of the day.

Finishing off 2012 depressed and negative, Survivor decided to start 2013 off with positive actions and attitudes. In her blog Surviving Mexico, watch as she discovers how to overcome the disasters and find the adventures in living again.

In The LoCo Locavore Takes OVER, our family went completely local for 30 days... IN JANUARY. Read about how we fared on our local fare. Spoiler alert! We didn't starve. You can also find Wide Awake, Half Asleep on Facebook.